Rooftops
by tfloosh
Summary: They always escape to the rooftops when life becomes too much for them.


"Fancy meeting you here."

Zelda turned her head. It was only Link, her across-the-hall neighbor who also had access to the roof directly from his apartment.

"And here I was hoping I could drink in peace," she rolled her eyes but didn't stop Link when he sat down in the plastic lawn chair next to her.

"I promise not to hit on you if you share your beer," he smiled flirtatiously despite his sentiment.

"I'm pretty sure that's a surefire way to guarantee you will hit on me," she smiled back but handed him one of her Moscow Mules anyway.

"So did you have a crappy day, too?" he asked after his first drink.

"Yeah, I got a call from my dad today."

Link winced sympathetically, "I take it your relationship is still strained."

"Obviously," Zelda motioned to the two empty cans at her feet. "But he actually offered to pay for my med school if I moved back home."

"A tempting offer on the surface," Link began.

"But so many rules underneath," she finished. "I wouldn't be able to go to any of my top ten programs if I moved back home. I want to be a cutting edge researcher in prosthetic medicine. I can't do that with a degree from a university that was just a two-year community college five years ago."

"How cruel life is," Link stated as he reached for another mule. "But at least you have parents that want you in their life."

Zelda didn't know how to respond to that, so she just sat and listened to the sound of cars on the street below.

* * *

The next time Zelda went up to the roof, Link was already there. She almost turned around and went back into her apartment before she remembered the reason she had left it in the first place. She cursed her roommate and her new boyfriend and climbed up the final steps of the ladder.

"Hey," she called out to Link.

"Why hello, beautiful," he practically beamed at her. "What brings such a fine lady as you up here?"

"My roommate brought her boyfriend home after their date," Zelda explained.

Link offered her his seat and pulled over one of the more beat up lawn chairs.

"Ah, to be young and in love," his eyes twinkled suggestively at her.

"If you ask me on a date I will shoot you down faster than a heat seeking missile."

Link face only fell a little, "I am able to have a cordial conversation with a woman, you know. And most of the time I do not seek to ask the woman out."

"So you just flirt to flirt?" Zelda raised her eyebrow skeptically.

"I flirt to see women smile," he rolled his eyes. "My mom used to say that a simple complement could make anyone's day, so I apologize if I desire to tell women they are beautiful."

"There's a difference between giving someone a compliment and excessively flirting with them," she pointed out.

"Blurred lines," Link winked.

"Well I don't want it," Zelda slouched further in her chair. "I've known you too long. I can't even tell if your compliments are sincere anymore."

"How about this," he leaned forward. "I will only give you compliments when I genuinely mean them."

"Then you have to critique me, too," she fixed him with a glare. "Tell me when I don't look good either or when I should fix my hair or my lipstick looks bad."

"Done," Link held his hand out to shake.

Zelda felt like she would regret this but shook his hand anyway.

* * *

The next time Zelda ventured up to the roof it was with a basket of fashion magazines and biology textbooks and a pitcher of frozen margaritas. The UV index was high that day, and she wanted to get a tan in between studying.

Half of her margarita pitcher was empty before Link made his way up to the roof.

"We've got to stop meeting like this," Link lowered his sunglasses to get a better look at her.

"You know you love this view," Zelda popped one of her legs up without taking her eyes off the textbook in front of her.

"Now that I cannot deny," he laughed as he pulled a chair close to her. "Midterms coming up soon?"

"Yeah," she closed the textbook and flipped onto her back. "And a little MCAT studying."

"I thought you already took those," he asked as he started putting sunscreen on.

"I can do better, though."

"Overachiever," Link rolled his eyes. "What flavor is your margarita?"

"Strawberry," Zelda put her arms behind her head. "You can have some. I shouldn't have made myself that much anyway."

She snuck a peak at Link from behind her sunglasses. He had taken his shirt off, and Zelda could have lived her life not knowing Link had a six pack. Gods above, he was attractive, and it wasn't fair.

"Like what you see, Zel?"

Dammit.

"You need a tan worse than I do," she tried.

"Guess I'll have to stay out here with you longer," he winked.

* * *

"Link," Zelda knocked on his door one evening. The spring semester was over, and one of her friends at the hospital had insisted on setting Zelda up on a blind date. Zelda was directed to 'go out and enjoy life for once,' but she was still nervous.

Link answered the door. He was more dressed up than usual, wearing nice pants and a blazar, and Zelda almost forgot why she had come over.

"I need your help," she forced herself to stop checking him out and look in his eyes. "I don't know what to wear."

"You have a date, too?" Link asked as he grabbed his keys and followed Zelda into her apartment.

"Yeah, and he's taking me to that fancy Gerudo café downtown," she threw open her closet doors. "I've never been there. I don't know what to wear."

"My go to first date place," Link nodded. "You're going to want heels at least and go for semi-formal if you don't want to dress up too much."

"Alright," Zelda pulled down two shoe boxes. "Is there anything in here you think is appropriate?" Link stepped into the closet and scanned the clothes.

"I haven't seen you in this," Link pulled out a jumpsuit with a black floral print. Zelda had bought it after her roommate had insisted she looked amazing in it, but she had been too scared to wear it in public.

Apparently Link could read the reason behind her hesitation. He thrust the outfit at her, "Wear it."

Zelda put on the jumpsuit and stared at herself in the mirror. The neckline was lower than she usually liked, and the back was open, and there were slits up the legs to her mid-thigh.

"I don't know about this, Link," she called from her bathroom.

"Let me see."

She walked out and glared at Link, "Be honest."

"You look amazing; no, better than that," his eyes couldn't stop traveling up and down her body. "You just look so sophisticated and definitely-"

His phone buzzed, and he glanced down at it, "You like Zoran, right?"

Zelda started at the sudden change in subject, "Yeah, the shop on the corner is my favorite."

"Good 'cause we're getting Zoran take-out."

"What?" Zelda followed Link into her kitchen. "Link, I have a date."

"Yeah," he smiled and handed her his phone. "With me."

Zelda looked at the screen. It was a text from her friend at the hospital telling Link the name of his date was Zelda.

"But the restaurant," she half protested.

"No, we're going to the roof," he grinned at her. "Go finish getting ready. I'll have everything done by then." He shooed her back into the bathroom to finish her make-up while he ordered the take-out.

Twenty minutes later, Zelda was climbing the ladder up to the roof. She was taken aback at the sight that greeted her. Link had riddled the area with candles, their take-out was placed out on one of the nicer tables as if it was the finest meal, and a single, glowing silent princess was sitting in a slender vase at the center of the table.

"Why are you doing all this for me?" she asked Link, who was standing to her left with a small grin on his face.

"Why would I not do this for the most amazing girl I know?" he gave her a wink as he led her to the table.

"You don't have to go through this date, you know," she rolled her eyes as she sat down.

"Yes, I do," Link looked her in the eye as he sat opposite her. "I've wanted to ask you out for the longest time, but I thought you didn't feel the same, and I knew you wouldn't take me seriously."

"I didn't think you actually liked me that way," she confessed.

"I mean this with the most sincerity I can muster," he reached across the table to grab Zelda's hand. "Every other girl pales in comparison to you. I would like to try a relationship with you, but if you don't feel the same then this can just be another trip to the roof for us."

"I would like that," she smiled. "To try dating."

"Good," Link smiled back and dug into his food. "And you're right. This Zoran is amazing."


End file.
